About Me

... formerly known as Strider. It’s an old joke instigated by a girlfriend back in college.
I used to be seen hiking through the snow wearing a floppy hat and carrying a walking staff ... the whole thing. Much has changed since then.

Friday, June 17, 2005

One year ago our White West Highland Terrier ("Scottie") died from Sertoli Cell Cancer at the age of 16.

This was a recurrence of the cancer that he had back when he was nine, but that time we were lucky and caught it in time. The first time around the tumor looked like he regrew his testicles, so it was pretty obvious that something was happening. The tumor caused his body to secrete hormones that made him act very lethargic. After the tumor was removed, he acted more like a puppy.

This time the tumor was in the more typical place, attached to the intestine and so hidden from sight. We noticed that he was slowing down, but then too he had arthritis in his hips and had a hard time climbing stairs. We should have had a clue when the vet noted that his weight looked better at his checkup in April, but then she wasn't his normal vet and would not have known what to expect. By the time he died, he lost two thirds of his weight from not eating. The tumor had grown to the size of a tennis ball and was blocking his intestines.

In his youth, he would occasionally dig his way out of the yard and go visiting around the neighborhood. As a terrier he would leave "presents" on the back porch and we would dutifully bury the mice and mole carcasses. One time a baby rabbit made the mistake of wandering into his yard and we got to bury rabbit pieces. He kept watch over the neighborhood and more than once convinced someone that it was not a good place to be rattling door knobs looking for an open door.

The pictures below are from when he was just a wee one and in the days before he died.